Lost
by Lovetoread75
Summary: The war between socs and greasers is as strong as ever. After socs set Dally up for a car accident he loses his memory and has amnesia. The guys (especially Johnny) are taking care of him. Follow Dally on his journey through pain and anguish and into recovery.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all, here I am with a new story, enjoy:)**

Darry was sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee out of a huge mug and looking through the paper, when Soda stumbled into the kitchen. It was Saturday so he slept in. "Morning Dar," he nodded at his older brother.

"Morning," Darry replied not looking up from the paper. Soda reached for a bowl, he poured some cereal and milk in it. Then he grabbed a table spoon and added four spoons of sugar into his cereal. Darry noticed and rolled his eyes. At this moment Pony wandered into the kitchen. He slid a few pancakes onto his plate and took a seat opposite Darry.

Pony barely started eating when they heard the door open. They were used to people coming over for breakfast but the next thing they heard was Dally's voice – "Hey Darry, Johnny is hurt I need your help." Darry's eyes flashed immediately with worry. He dropped the paper and hurried into the living room. Pony and Soda followed him. There they saw Dally holding Johnny bridal style trying to set him onto the couch. Dally looked furious. "Found him at the lot, some socs got a hold of him." As Dally kept talking, Johnny stirred and opened his eyes. He tried moving, but it hurt, and he cringed in pain. "I took care of those bastards," Dally explained.

Darry put a chair in the middle of the room, and motioned for Johnny to sit in the chair, which he did. Darry carefully cleaned Johnny's cuts. "Have some pancakes Johnny," Darry said trying not to make a big deal of what just happened because he knew Johnny would want it that way.

"Not now," Johnny looked down, his voice shaking a little.

"Ok then why don't you go lie down in Pony's room?"

"Yeah," Pony nodded, he carefully threw a hand over Johnny's shoulder and led him to his room.

"Those bastards," Dally lit up a cigarette.

Darry merely nodded, and Soda smiled. "You want to stay for breakfast?" Darry asked.

"No, I got to get going." Dally took a drag on his cigarette, "you take care of Johnny."

"Sure thing Dal." With that Dallas left.

The next day Dally was driving Buck's T-bird, casually smoking a cigarette and switching different radio stations. When he was making a turn he noticed a blue Mustang appear out of nowhere. He pressed on the gas and started going faster. The Mustang started going faster too and was right behind Dally. He could even make out their faces in the rearview mirror that's how close they were. He recognized the socs that he had beat up the day before, who were beating Johnny. Dally lifted up his hand and showed them a finger, pressing on the gas once more. They only laughed in response.

They were on the intersection now. Dally pressed on the brake but all off the sudden the Mustang literally flew over to Dally's car bumping it from the side and making it get out onto the opposite lane. The socs laughed as their car was unharmed. At the very moment there was a truck on the other lane going in the opposite direction. Dally's car flew over to the truck and the two collided. Dally heard glass breaking everywhere, his body thrust forward. He felt blood trickling from the side his head. Just then he saw the blue Mustang pass by, the socs laughing – "won't stick your nose in other people's business next time."

Dally's car was shoved on the side of the road with all the force of the truck. There was broken glass everywhere. Dally hit his head against the steering wheel. The car tipped over and rolled a couple of times before stopping - roof on the ground. Dally felt excruciating pain all over his body. He was hit repeatedly against the walls of the car, and the glass has cut him all over. The door was blocked, and he couldn't get out, he was trapped inside. He tried wiping the blood off his face, and then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

The next evening all the guys were at the Curtis except for Dallas. Pony and Johnny were watching TV while Two-bit, Soda and Steve were playing cards. Darry was in his recliner reading the paper. All of the sudden he threw the paper on the coffee table, "you got to be kidding me." Everyone instantly looked at him. "What's wrong Darry?" Soda asked worriedly. Darry looked mad – "there is an article in here, it's about Dally, he's been in a car crash, he is in the hospital." Soda's face dropped.

"He is unconscious," Darry continued, "They found his ID in his pocket that's how they know his name. They are asking anyone who knows him to come forward." There was deadly silence in the room. Then Soda looked up at Darry, "How bad is he hurt?"

Darry swallowed hard, and ran his fingers through his hair, "It doesn't go into details just says he is unconscious. It says a blue Mustang was trailing him and he got out onto the opposite lane and collided with a truck."

Johnny's eyes grew wide, and he paled – "a blue Mustang. Those are the guys that," he paused, leaning on the back of the couch "that were beating me and Dal beat them up." He went quiet, then almost whispered, "it's all my fault."

"Don't say that," Pony rushed to say, "it's not your fault," but Johnny ignored him, he hung his head and looked like he was ready to start crying.

Soda dropped his cards on the table – "let's go." And for once Steve didn't look cocky. He looked down and followed Soda outside. They all piled into the truck, and Darry started the engine.

After they explained who they were at the hospital, the doc walked out and talked to them. He was a tall man about sixty, with bald spot in the middle of his head surrounded by a crown of gray hair. He was wearing a white robe and the glasses were sitting on the tip of his nose. He looked over at the guys, their blue jeans and greased hair and there was disapproval in his eyes. He squinted a little and said "was he speeding over the limit or maybe he wasn't sober." Darry frowned – "Can you please just tell us how badly he is hurt?" he said somewhat curtly.

The doctor cleared his throat. "He is seriously hurt. His ribs are broken and they punctured the side of his lung. The lung has collapsed, and we had to insert the tube into his chest to help drain the air and to help inflate the lung." Johnny bit his bottom lip. "That's not all," the doctor added dryly. "He had a blood vessel rupture in his head and a blood clot as a result. He needs surgery which will cost about two thousand dollars. They have to operate as soon as possible. The most they can wait is one week." Johnny gasped for air, and Soda made a funny noise like he was going to start crying. Everybody had a shocked expression on their faces. This was a huge amount of money and they certainly did not have it. Everybody was silent, and Darry wiped his forehead where the beads of sweat were starting to form.

The doctor cleared his throat – "there is one more thing…" Everyone was silent waiting for what the doctor was going to say. He doesn't remember anything…"

"You mean… he has amnesia?" Soda interrupted the doctor, his eyes huge.

"Yes, something like that. It was caused by the blow to his head."

"Well…," Soda continued, "How long is it going to last?"

The doctor cleared his throat again, "It depends, it can take a few days or a few months or even longer."

"But… he will eventually get his memory back, right?" Darry said firmly.

"If everything goes well, he should." That wasn't too reassuring Darry thought, but there was nothing to be said, so he remained silent.

"Can we please see him Doctor?" Johnny spoke up, and there was such desperation in his eyes. The doctor sighed, "ok but just for a little bit." He led them to ICU. They opened the door, and Johnny frowned and took a step back. Dallas was lying in the bed, eyes closed paler than a sheet. There was an oxygen mask around his nose and he was hooked up to the machine that was helping him breathe.

Johnny finally walked up closer, and Dally opened his eyes. "Hey Dal," Johnny all but croaked. Dally furrowed his eyebrows, he looked confused. Johnny tried to grab his hand, but Dally flinched. "Oh God," Darry mumbled as he took a step back and leaned on the wall for support, "He doesn't know who we are." Johnny covered his mouth with his palm. He was now as pale as Dally. "Hey Dal, it's me Johnny, your buddy." Dallas still looked confused. At this moment the doctor stuck his head in, "alright boys, I think it's time for you to go, it's better not to stress him."

On the way to the exit the doctor asked, "Do you know his parents' contact information so we can let them know what happened?"

"Yes," Darry said reluctantly because he knew Dal's parents at best were not going to care.

They left the hospital, and as they were back in the truck Johnny broke down and started bawling. "What are we going to do? His parents are not going to put up two thousand dollars for the surgery."

"Fuck," Steve cursed, "where the hell are we going to get that kind of money?" Soda looked down. He was close to tears. Darry looked frustrated and pressed on the gas nearly having a car accident himself.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day after school Pony and Johnny went to visit Dally. Even though Dally didn't remember anything, the boys still wanted to see how he was doing. The doc said that it would take up to eight weeks for the lung to recover. But he was most concerned with the head surgery. It didn't seem that the parents had that kind of money.

Dally was lying still the whole time and hardly opened his eyes. After a while the boys left. As they exited Johnny frowned, "it's all my fault," he said biting his nails." I'm such a pussy, couldn't hold off those guys by myself, needed Dal to do it." Pony tried to calm him down, he threw an arm over Johnny's shoulder – "There were five of them, how were you supposed to hold five guys off?"

Johnny bit his bottom lip, "Well Dal was able to, so should I." Pony sighed, "C'mon Johnny it's not your fault." Johnny didn't say anything just looked down. He looked miserable. Then he sobbed – "how the hell are we going to get the money?"

Pony was thoughtful for a moment, "I have an idea," he said firmly, jamming his fists, "just don't think Darry would go for it."

"What?" Johnny's voice quivered as he looked at Ponyboy with huge eyes like Pony was his last hope.

"We have saved up some money, you know, for me to go to college." He swallowed hard, looking Johnny straight in the eyes "It will be enough to cover the surgery. Darry is never going to go for it though… but maybe I can do it without him." Johnny was silent, he looked shocked. "You'd do that?"

"Sure," Pony replied sounding dead serious.

"Darry will kill you," Johnny paled a little.

"I don't care," Pony said reluctantly, raising his voice a little.

"Thanks man, I don't know what I'd do if Dally… you know, died"

The next day Pony got home right after school. He dropped his backpack on the floor and took his shoes off. He inhaled deeply and strolled to Darry's room. He almost tiptoed even though there was nobody home. I wonder where he keeps his checkbook, Pony thought. He felt his heart beat faster and he found himself gasping for air. He felt scared of what Darry might do when he finds out, but Pony was determined to go through with his plan.

When in Darry's room he went straight to the desk and opened the top drawer.

There was a thick blue book in it. Pony furrowed his eyebrows – Darry doesn't read. He picked up the book and realized that it was a journal. Darry keeps a journal Pony chuckled in spite of himself. I bet it says 'I hate my idiot brother'. Pony was really tempted to read, but decided to respect Darry's privacy. Under the journal there were a few photographs – one of the whole family, one of the gang and then the one where Pony was sitting on Darry's lap. Pony was no older than three. Pony frowned staring down at the picture. Maybe he does not hate me after all, he thought. There were a few more – Darry and his dad and Darry and some of his friends and then Darry and a pretty girl. Pony sighed, Darry didn't have time for a girlfriend these days.

Pony carefully put the pictures and the journal back in the drawer, then he opened the second one. It was full of bills. Ok, it's got to be here, Pony thought. He searched under the bills and there it was, a checkbook. He carefully tore one check out and made sure to arrange everything in the drawer the way it was so Darry does not have even a shadow of suspicion that something was wrong.

On shaking legs Pony went back to his room. He filled out the check making it out to the hospital for two thousand dollars. Now he had to forge Darry's signature. He'd seen it many times so he had no problem with that. But all the same he practiced on a blank sheet of paper first. Ponyboy realized that sooner or later Darry would find out what he had done, but he hoped it would be later, after the surgery. At that point all Darry would be able to do is yell at him and maybe he will be grounded, but it's not like he could take the money back. Pony closed his eyes for a moment, then he opened them and carefully signed the check making out Darry's signature. Next he put his shoes back on and started for the hospital.

As he was walking out of the house, Pony was looking down and didn't notice Johnny walking in the opposite direction, so he bumped right into him. "Hey Pony," Johnny said rubbing his head where Pony had hit it. Ponyboy smiled, "Sorry, man I didn't see ya there."

"What's the rush?" Johnny smiled back. Carefully Pony took the check out of his pocket. Johnny's eyes grew huge. Johnny didn't say anything, but Pony read what he was thinking from the expression on his face. "I had to," Pony stated with finality, "he will die if I don't do this," he almost whispered. Johnny nodded, "thanks man," he said looking up at Pony from under his bangs.

Soon they approached the hospital. Pony felt the nerves kick in and his palms get sweaty. Johnny looked worriedly at him, "are you ok, man?" Pony just nodded. They went in. They explained what they were there for, and the receptionist said they could pay and she would make a note in Dally's chart so the doctor knows and proceeds with the surgery.

"How are you paying, cash, check or credit card?" She asked.

"Check," Pony replied stumbling over his words a little. The receptionist stretched her hand out, Pony looked confused.

"May I have the check?" she said looking at Pony like he was stupid.

"C'mon man, give her the check," Johnny nudged him in the ribs.

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled and took the check out of his pocket and handed it to her. She looked it over. Pony was mentally praying that she doesn't ask for ID. She did not. He was staring at her intently, she wrinkled her nose – "That's all," she said curtly, "the doctor will be notified and the surgery will be scheduled as soon as needed."

Next they went in to see Dallas. He seemed to take a turn for the worse. His eyes were closed, and sweat was dripping down his cheeks and nose. Pony took a step forward – "Hi, Dal" but Johnny grabbed his hand. "Let's not wake him, he needs his rest."

"Alright," Pony replied and the two exited the room.

When they were outside Johnny looked up at Pony from under his bangs. "Thanks for doing this man, I mean it took you a long time to save this money." Then he paused and looked down, "I hope this surgery goes well, we can't let Dally die. I mean, the doc said they can wait with the surgery for only a week and it's been five days."

"He ain't going to die," Pony patted Johnny on the shoulder, but he got a little pale thinking of what might happen if the doctor does not proceed with the surgery right away.

When Pony got home, he went to his room, thoughts swirling in his mind. What's going to happen to Dally, is the surgery going to be successful, what is Darry going to do when he finds out Pony took the money. He didn't finish that thought because the front door opened and he heard Darry's voice – "Hey Ponyboy, I need to talk to you." He realized he'd been sitting like this for longer than he thought since Darry was home already. Is it possible that he already knew? Pony's heart dropped. He hung his head and trudged into the living room.

There Darry was standing in the middle of the room, boots still on, tool belt not taken off. Pony stopped in the doorway not saying anything. "I got a phone call from the bank," Darry started not beating around the bush, "they said two thousand dollars was taken from our account. Do you… know anything about this?" Darry's face turned slightly red from anger as he spoke. Pony hung his head.

"Ponyboy… ," Darry looked expectantly at him.

"I took the money," Pony mumbled not looking up.

"What's that?" Darry's face turned a different shade of red.

"I took the money," Pony repeated louder and then added, "for Dally's surgery." Darry appeared speechless. He plopped into his recliner as it seemed he wasn't able to be standing up.

Pony didn't say anything so Darry had to say something. "It took us over three years to save that money, it's for your college education what were you thinking?"

"I know Dar," Pony replied and all of the sudden he wasn't afraid of Darry anymore. He felt confident that what he did was the right thing to do. "I know," he repeated, "but if we didn't provide the money Dally would … you know die." Darry didn't say anything, just sighed. Pony continued, walking up closer to Darry and looking him straight in the eyes, "I can get a job after I graduate High School and save some money then I can still go to college after." Darry shook his head, "I don't need you getting a job and working like the way…" he paused.

"What? You do?" Pony continued, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, "and why not? You are doing it, so can I, and then I can still go to college later."

Darry frowned, "How'd you do it anyway?"

Pony's ears turned red and he stumbled over his words, "I… I took a check out of your checkbook and forged your signature." Darry's eyes got huge, "you snooped around in my things?" He crossed his arms.

"I didn't look at anything personal, I swear," Pony mumbled, "just took the check." "You should've talked to me first." Darry sounded more disappointed than angry now.

"Sorry," Pony looked down, "but I was afraid that you would say 'no'."

"You are grounded for two weeks." With that Darry left the room. That went well Pony thought, but he smiled to himself. He thought he got off easy. He had no problem with being grounded for two weeks. He usually spent his time in his room reading anyway. But he was more than relieved that Dally's surgery was on the way and there was no way Darry could get the money back.


	4. Chapter 4

Dallas opened his eyes, the room was spinning in front of him, and he felt disoriented. Where the hell am I, he thought, then he remembered he was in the hospital, but he couldn't remember anything else. He knew he was in pain and that's why he was in the hospital but he couldn't remember what happened. Then he realized he remembered his name, but he couldn't remember anything else, like where he was from, did he go to school, who his parents were, did he have friends. Then he remembered the doc telling him he had amnesia. He felt devastated, his mind was racing trying to remember but all in vain. He felt ashamed and inadequate because he couldn't remember. He also felt helpless. He remembered some people visiting him telling him they were his friends, but he couldn't remember anything about them or who they were. He closed his eyes wondering how long he was going to stay at the hospital and what would happen to him once he is discharged since he didn't remember anything, how would he function once he was out of the hospital.

Just then the door opened and the doctor walked in. "Hi Dallas I am glad you are awake. I am here to tell you that in a few hours you will have a surgery. Your friends got the money so we can finally perform it."

Dally turned to the side, "What kind of surgery?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

The doc cleared his throat, "Well you see a blood vessel ruptured in your head during the accident and now you have a clot that needs to be removed." Dallas gasped, "You mean you will operate on my … head?"

"Yes Dallas that's right." Dallas swallowed hard, while the doctor continued, "this is a very difficult procedure, we have only tried it once before, but I am sure it will be alright." With that the doctor left.

Dallas felt his heart beat faster, he was panting. To be totally honest he was scared. He was preparing himself for the worst. I am not ready to die, he thought. What would happen if I die? He wondered if he believed in God, since he couldn't remember. He closed his eyes and saw an image in front of his eyes, him only younger running on some sort of an alley, being chased by some big guys who looked much older. What a hell was that, Dally opened his eyes, breathing heavily. He kept getting the flashbacks but he couldn't remember what they were.

A few hours passed, then the doc and another guy walked in. They placed Dallas on a gurney and wheeled him into operating room. "Ok, Dallas you are going to be under general anesthesia, try to relax." Dally's eyes grew wide. He knew he was going to be sedated but now when it was actually happening he felt fear cripple under his skin. What if something goes wrong, he might not wake up. As he was thinking that the doc inserted the needle into his arm. After a few moments he was unconscious.

In the waiting room the gang was waiting for the results of the surgery. Darry had a stern expression on his face, Soda was constantly looking at the watch, Johnny was biting his nails, Pony was looking at Johnny ready to bawl, Two-bit was quiet for once, and Steve was tapping his fingers. Finally the doctor showed up. Johnny sprinted up and ran up to him. "How did it go?" He managed, his big brown eyes glistening with worry.

"It was successful," was all the doctor said, then added dryly "you realize you can't see him now, he is still recovering."

"Ok," Johnny nodded, but Pony saw it in his eyes that he wanted to see Dally, to make sure that he was ok.

The next day they were back at the hospital. "You can't see him now," the nurse informed them.

"Why the hell not?" Soda snapped. She looked uncomfortable, "he has taken a turn for the worse."

Johnny paled, "What do you mean?" his voice quivered as he spoke.

"It appears he got an infection during the surgery," Pony looked over at Johnny, and Johnny looked like he was going to lose it.

"Is it … life threatening?" Johnny managed. The nurse was silent a moment then she looked down, "if they don't find the right antibiotic soon it can be." Johnny looked mad, his eyes were blazing with anger. Pony had never seen him like that before. "We are going to see him," Johnny yelled and ran past the nurse. Pony followed.

They walked into Dally's room. He was lying still, covered with blankets his head still bandaged after the surgery, an IV with what Pony assumed was the antibiotic was hooked up to his arm. He looked lifeless, and he moaned every few moments. Johnny leaned on the wall for support, he was devastated by the sight in front of him.

Finally Dally opened his eyes. "Hi Dal," Johnny managed, trying to feign a smile. He walked up closer. "How are you feeling?" Dallas looked a little annoyed, he knew Pony and Johnny were his friends because they told him so when they visited before, but he couldn't remember so he felt like he was talking to some strangers. He scowled, "I am ok," he croaked, staring into the distance, avoiding meeting Johnny's gaze.

"Look, I brought something for you." Johnny took a photograph out of his pocket. It was of the gang. Johnny and Dally were in the middle. "Thought maybe it'll help ya … you know to remember." Dally propped his head on his hand and looked at the picture, he still didn't remember. Johnny realized that the picture did not help, he looked disappointed. But he managed a smile for Dally's sake. "It's ok, you'll remember don't worry about it." He was going to say something else, but the doctor entered the room. He looked mad. "Who let you in here? You can't see him right now." Johnny glared at him. "Out," the doctor almost yelled.

For the next two weeks the gang was not allowed to see Dally. The doctor was trying to find the right antibiotic to get rid of the infection. Darry called the hospital every day and got the same answer – "he is not responding to the antibiotics."

On Thursday evening Darry was calling the hospital once again. Everybody gathered around him, waiting anxiously to hear what the doc was going to say.

"Ok," Darry said, "great, we'll look into that." He hung up the phone. There was a mixed expression on his face – relief, but at the same time anger.

"What'd he say?" Soda prompted.

"Said the antibiotic is finally working, the infection should clear up in a few days." Darry replied, a stern expression on his face.

"That's great," Soda grinned, "why'd you look mad?"

"Oh, it's just he said they will discharge Dally as soon as possible even though it takes up to 8 weeks for the lung to recover, kind of rubbed it in that we can't afford to pay for him to stay longer at the hospital so they are going to discharge him even though he is not fully recovered."

"Assholes," Steve piped in, clenching his jaw, and Soda smiled at him.

"'s ok, we'll take care of him, right Johnny?" Soda grinned again.

Johnny bit his bottom lip, "That's right," he croaked.


	5. Chapter 5

On Friday the guys picked Dallas up. He was still in a pretty bad shape. He was holding his side where it hurt and was really pale. He couldn't climb into the truck on his own so Darry had to give him a lift.

They were silent for most of the ride, then Dallas cleared his throat and looked at Darry, "can I ask you a question, Darry right?"

"Yes, that's my name," Darry replied not taking the eyes of the road.

"Why is it that my folks are not picking me up? Are they… dead?"

Johnny flinched at this, and Darry looked down. Darry was never lost for words, but this time looked like he was. "They are … busy. They asked us to take care of you for now." Dally didn't look convinced but dropped the matter. The rest of the ride was in silence.

Finally they arrived. Dally started getting up, but cringed in pain and sat back down. "Here Dal lean on my shoulder," Johnny offered.

"I am alright," Dally croaked trying to get up again.

"I know you are," Johnny said in a soothing voice just to calm him down, "just lean on me." Reluctantly Dally leaned on Johnny's shoulder and the two climbed out of the truck.

Once inside Johnny led Dallas to the couch. "You can lie down in Pony's room," Darry offered, "or you can use the couch." Dallas didn't say anything just took a seat on the couch. He looked awful - he lost weight because he didn't eat at the hospital. He closed his eyes and leaned back. Just as he closed his eyes he saw a woman, she had golden hair and a nice, kind smile on her face. She was carrying a cake with candles. She brought it forward and Dallas blew out the candles. He was maybe fourteen years old.

"I'll make you something to eat," Darry's voice broke into Dally's flashback. He opened his eyes – "what?"

"I'll get you something to eat," Darry repeated, walking into the kitchen, "would you prefer fries and burger or fried chicken?"

"Not hungry," Dallas croaked still confused from his flashback.

"Oh, you got to eat you've lost weight." Darry got the cutting board and added smiling a little "Our food is not the same as the junk they fed you at the hospital." Dally leaned back into the couch. He moaned slightly. Jonny walked up to him, "you should lie down." He said softly.

"Here," Pony brought a pillow. At this point Dallas had no strength to argue with them so he just lied down on the couch. Soon he fell into deep, restless sleep.

When he opened his eyes he saw Darry piling food onto a plate and putting it on the tray. He brought the tray to Dally. It was fries and burger. It smelled delicious. All of the sudden Dally felt really hungry, he hadn't eaten in God knows how long. He downed the fries and burger and drank chocolate milk that Johnny brought him. All of the sudden he gagged, "shit I think I'm going to be sick," Johnny sprinted to the kitchen and grabbed the garbage can. He brought it to Dallas just in time. Dally threw up into the can. He looked ashamed. He looked so different than the Dally they used to know. Johnny felt really worried what if he was not going to be his old self. Not ever. The doc had said that the amnesia will resolve eventually though he didn't know how long it would take, but what if it doesn't resolve, what if they are never going to get their Dally back.

Dally sat up on the couch, he was sweating "Can I .. take a shower?" He managed not looking up at Darry.

"Sure thing I'll get you some clean clothes." Darry replied, concern in his eyes. Dally stumbled to the bathroom, he went in and locked the door.

"Are you sure you can do this on your own?" Soda yelled after him. There was no response just the sound of the water being turned on.

Dallas turned cold water on. He felt he needed cold water to make him feel better. He tried to reach up for the showerhead but his ribs hurt, and he retracted in pain. Suddenly he slipped on the floor and fell down on his ribs. He yelled in pain.

"Oh my God," Johnny yelled. "Dallas, Dal are you ok?" The door was locked, and there was no response from Dallas. Darry busted the door open with his shoulder. There they saw Dallas on the floor trying to get up and failing, a towel around his waist. Darry and Johnny took his arms on each side, but Dally couldn't stand up at all, he felt like a potato sac.

"Step aside Jonny," Darry said. He carefully picked Dallas up bridal style and carried him out. Dallas was shivering, Darry brought him to Pony's room and put him under the blankets. All this time Dally didn't even say a word and his eyes were closed.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Darry and Soda had to go to work and Pony to school. Johnny volunteered to stay home to look after Dallas. He figured it'd be ok for him to skip school since he was failing most of the classes anyway. He waited patiently in the living room for Dally to get up. At around eleven Dally still hadn't come out, and Johnny decided to go see how he was doing. He carefully knocked on the door making sure not to just walk in. "Come in," Dally said, and his voice sounded weak. Johnny walked in carrying a bowl of cereal. "I'll bring the garbage can in case you … feel sick again." Dally just nodded.

Dally took a few spoonfuls then put the bowl aside. "How are you feeling?" Johnny asked concern in his voice.

"I'm fine," Dally replied, but Johnny could tell he was putting on an act. It looked like it was hurting him to breathe. He tried to turn to his side, and a moan escaped his lips. Johnny paled. Dallas remained on his back. "I'd kill for a cigarette right now," Dally licked his lips. Johnny just sighed, Dally was not supposed to smoke until the lung fully recovered, and the withdrawals from nicotine were adding to his pain, making him even more miserable.

Dally thought about his flashbacks. More than anything he wished he could remember something, anything at all, but no matter how much he tried all he remembered was staying at the hospital.

There was an awkward silence. Then Dallas looked at Johnny, squinting a little. "So tell me," he paused, "who am I, do I go to school?" Johnny smiled in spite of himself, and Dallas looked confused.

"You hate school, you dropped out a long time ago. You, how can I put it, you are the toughest grease in Tulsa."

"Grease?" Dally looked even more confused. Johnny chuckled, looking up at Dallas from under his bangs, "We are greasers," he clarified, "We live on the poor side of town and we fight with socs. They are the rich kids from the West side and they hate us greasers. That's how you got into this car accident. You helped me fight some socs who were..." he looked down, "were beating me, and then they got you into this car accident." Then he looked Dally straight in the eyes and said barely audibly, "Sorry, for getting you in this mess." Dally frowned, not entirely sure what to make out of it "Don't worry about it," he finally managed. Then Johnny added with hope in his voice, "do you remember?" Dally looked down and shook his head – "No".

Johnny got up "I'll be right back." He left the room, but was back in a second, "this may help," he put a photo album in front of Dally, and opened it. First there was the picture of the whole gang. Dally couldn't help but notice how mean he looked in the picture. Then there was a picture of some big guy. "This is Tim he is a buddy of yours." Johnny explained, looking Dally in the eyes hoping for some glimpse of memory from him. Then there was Dally on a horse. "This is you at the rodeo. You jockey sometimes for the guy named Buck Merrill. He owns a bar on our side of town. We took this when you won last year." Dally's eyes got wide – "I won?"

"Yeah, you did, you are really good with horses." He flipped the page. It was a picture of Dally and Johnny sitting on a bench. "This we took after a game of football. We usually play on Saturdays." He flipped the page again and Dally gasped - it was the woman with gold hair, the one he saw in his flashbacks. "Who's that?"He pointed a finger, she was standing next to a tall, handsome man who looked a lot like Darry.

"That's Pony's parents." Dally looked thoughtful, "How come they are not here?" Johnny frowned, "they are dead, they died in a car crash last year." Dally paled and looked away. He looked like he was going to be sick again. "Maybe you should get some sleep," Johnny suggested closing the photo album, "we can look at the rest of the pictures later. "Call me if you need anything," he said leaving the room.

Dally closed his eyes. The minute he did he saw himself, only younger wearing some sort of uniform, it was a washed out orange color. Wait, was he in jail? Dally opened his eyes breathing heavily. Was he really in jail, but he was so young. Dally wanted to sleep but he was dreading another flashback so he just stayed in bed with his eyes wide open.

Johnny went into the living room, he sat down on the couch and hung his head. He still felt that the whole thing was his fault. About half an hour passed, and Johnny heard Dally moan in Pony's room. He rushed to the room. There he saw Dallas trying to sit up but failing, sweat dripping down his face. "Here, let me help you," Johnny took his hand, it was awfully hot. "Shit, I think you are running a fever." Johnny got the thermometer and sure enough Dally was running a fever.

Johnny gave him aspirins, "You'll feel better soon," he offered. He knew that one way to reduce fever was to take warm baths, but after earlier incident in the shower he decided not to go for that. "Try to relax," he said to Dallas. Dally bit his lower lip, and Johnny regretted saying that. How could he relax if he was in pain. All the same Johnny got a towel, wet it and placed it on Dally's forehead. "This should help bring the fever down." He knew that because he'd seen Mrs. Curtis do that when Pony was sick.

By the time Pony, Darry and Soda got home Dally's fever went down, and Johnny sighed in relief. "How is he?" Darry asked tiredly, taking his tool belt off, and Soda looked up question in his eyes. Johnny looked down, "could be better," he supplied, "barely ate anything and was running a fever, but it went down after I gave him some aspirins. Showed him the photo album, but he still didn't remember anything." Darry sighed, "Are you ok looking after him? Maybe I ought to take a day off."

"I am fine," Johnny tried to feign a smile, but it didn't escape Darry how sad and tired he looked.

"Johnny," Darry called after him, and looked him straight in the eyes, "you are not still blaming yourself for this are you?" Johnny looked close to tears, "Well, if it wasn't for me this wouldntta happened, what if he never gets his memory back?" Johnny said and there was a catch in his voice.

"Johnny, it's not your fault. Wouldn't you help if it happened to Pony or any of the gang? We got each others' back, that's the way it is. Dally helped you the same way you would've helped him or Pony."

"Yeah, man it's not your fault," Pony walked up closer to Johnny. "Let's go for a smoke," Pony suggested. The two of them went outside and sat down on the porch and lit up. After talking to Pony Johnny felt a little better. He stayed the night tossing and turning on the couch thinking about Dally.


	7. Chapter 7

Dally woke up with a groan. His head hurt, especially his temples. He tried to ignore the pain and got up going to wash up. After that he stumbled into the kitchen. Johnny, who was making pancakes, looked up at him from under his bangs, "Morning Dal, go back to bed, I'll bring breakfast soon."

"You know I'm not handicapped I can take care of myself." Dally scowled.

Johnny smiled a little, then said in a soothing voice, "I'm sure you can, now c'mon go back to bed." Dally glared at him, then he bent down to tie his shoelaces. After bending down he got up abruptly, and as soon as he did everything got blurry in front of his eyes and he felt dizzy, then everything went black and he collapsed onto the floor with a loud thump.

"Oh my God," Johnny yelled, "don't you know you are not supposed to get up abruptly after bending down, especially if you haven't eaten anything." Johnny dropped the spatula and ran up to Dally.

Johnny gasped, he didn't know what to do. He decided to get Dallas to bed and wait for him to gain consciousness, and if he didn't gain consciousness soon he would have to call Darry. For now he had to get Dally to bed, but how was he supposed to do that? There was no way he could pick him up. Finally he grabbed him from the back around the neck and dragged him through the hallway and into Pony's room. He felt bad doing that, but he didn't have any other choice. Now the big task was to get Dallas onto the bed. He put him into a sitting position - his back leaning on the side of the bed, then he gradually pulled his torso up and onto the bed. He took Dally's shoes off and covered him with the blanket.

Johnny realized his eyes got misty with tears and he wiped them with the back of his hand. He took a seat on a chair at Pony's desk and hung his head. What if Dal never recovers, he thought, what if he never remembers things, who he was, who they were, sure they told him but that wasn't the same. And Dallas was so vulnerable and helpless like a little child, not the tuff and tough Dallas that they've known and that Johnny looked up to.

At this moment Dallas stirred and opened his eyes. He looked disoriented. He blinked and squinted from the light. Johnny jumped off the chair and ran up to the bed. Dally looked up at him, contempt in his eyes, "who the hell are you?" Johnny cleared his throat, "Dal, it's me Johnny." Dally looked at him and calmed down a little. He felt weird calling him "Johnny". Sure they explained to him that apparently they were really close, but he sure didn't remember any of it.

"How are you feeling?" Johnny tried to smile for Dally's sake, his voice quivering slightly, "you scared me something awful." Dally looked skeptically at Johnny as if deciding whether or not to tell him the truth. He ran his fingers through his hair and said avoiding Johnny's gaze and staring into the distance instead "My head hurts something awful and I need a fucking cigarette." Johnny tried not to fall apart for Dally's sake.

"I'll get you some aspirins." He left the room and was back next moment with 2 aspirins and water. Dallas swallowed the pills. Then he searched his pockets for cigarettes and finding none he looked up at Johnny, "got a cigarette?" he asked gruffly. Johnny looked away, - "Sorry Dal, I can't give you none." He said reluctantly, eyes wide. Dallas looked mad, his eyes blazing with anger. Johnny swallowed hard, "the doc made it very clear you are not 'posed to smoke. If you do your lung may collapse again."

"Fuck what the doc said," Dallas looked like he was losing his patience, "I need a cigarette," he raised his voice a little.

"No," Johnny said quietly but firmly, "now lie down I'll bring you something to eat." Dally looked frustrated and closed his eyes. In a moment Johnny was back in the room with food. "Mashed potatoes and fried chicken and chocolate cake. Soda made it, it's pretty good just too much sugar."

"Not hungry," Dal said through clenched teeth. He felt like shit. He felt he was going to explode if he didn't get a cigarette soon.

"You got to eat something Dal, or you'll pass out again." Johnny tried to reason with him.

Dally rolled his eyes, "Fine, I'll have some cake." Johnny sighed but didn't insist.

"Do you want to watch a little TV?" Johnny asked carefully after Dally was done with the cake.

Dally looked lost, like he didn't know what he was supposed to say. Johnny hated seeing him this way. "Sure," Dally finally said. He started getting up, but cringed in pain, "shit," he sat back down. Johnny frowned, "here, use my shoulder for support." Dally grabbed Johnny's shoulder and the two started walking into the living room. When they were almost there Dally started coughing, "shit I can't breathe," he grabbed his side, where the broken ribs were hurting him. Johnny didn't know what to do, he was panicking. He sat Dallas on the couch in haste. Dally was hyperventilating.

Johnny paled, "Maybe you should go outside get some fresh air," he stumbled over his words. This was the only thing he could think of. He felt like he was going to lose it and considered calling Darry.

"Yeah, ok," Dally agreed in a scratchy voice, still holding his side. He leaned on Johnny's shoulder again, and they went outside and Dallas carefully sat down on the steps.

"Better?" Johnny asked desperately. It pained him to see Dally this way, and he felt so helpless that he couldn't do anything about it.

"A little better Dally," croaked, but by the look in Dally's eyes and how pale he was Johnny realized that he was still in a lot of pain.

"The doc said this may happen but it should pass." Johnny said barely audibly. Dally only nodded – "yeah." They sat like that for about an hour then went back inside. Dally breathed easier, but it still hurt some, but more than anything he wished for a cigarette.


	8. Chapter 8

A few days passed by. Dally felt better. He wasn't staying in bed all the time. He was able to walk by himself, and it was less painful to breathe. It was Thursday Soda and Darry were at work and Pony at school. Johnny stayed with Dally as usual. He didn't care that he missed so much school, this was far more important to him than school. Darry and Pony worried about him missing so much school, but it was the best arrangement since they couldn't d leave Dallas on his own.

Dallas was sitting on the couch staring at the TV. Johnny had to go to the store because Darry forgot to buy bread, and they were out. Dally was about to close his eyes when he noticed a pack of Kools that Johnny left on the counter. His eyes lit up. The nicotine withdrawals were killing him, and he desperately wished for a smoke. He considered what Johnny had told him about the doc not wanting him to smoke, but he couldn't resist.

He grabbed the pack and took out two sticks. He went outside and sat down on the porch and lit up. He inhaled the smoke greedily, holding the cigarette between his index and middle finger. He leaned back and closed his eyes. The minute he did he saw an old church and it was on fire. Dallas opened his eyes. Shit, he thought, what's that all about? He desperately tried to remember something, anything at all, but he couldn't. He sighed and took another drag on his cigarette. He was feeling horrible about his amnesia. Having to rely on others to tell you who you are, what your past was like, what you like and dislike, who your friends are, who your parents are. It was like a child who needed to hold his mom's hand crossing the street or something. Dallas hated this feeling of total helplessness. He took another drag on his cigarette and tried to relax.

Dallas was hoping to be done smoking before Johnny got back. He figured Johnny wouldn't notice that there are two sticks missing in the pack, he would think that he smoked it himself. Dally finished his second cigarette and went back inside. He sat down on the couch feeling somewhat better. Damn, I needed that cigarette, he thought.

Soon enough Johnny was back. "Hey Dal, how are you feeling?" Johnny swallowed hard, taking his shoes off and placing the shopping bag with bread on the counter.

"Way better," Dallas replied, smiling to himself.

"Good, I am going to make soup," Johnny announced and proceeded to the kitchen. He diced carrots and celery, added chicken stock and noodles and cut pieces of chicken into what was supposed to be chicken noodle soup.

All of the sudden he heard Dallas in the living room coughing severely. He ran into the room. "Dallas what's going on, are you alright?" he yelled.

"I'm fine," Dally managed gasping for air, it looked like he was choking. Johnny panicked, he didn't know what to do. Dally was just standing there, gasping for air. Johnny ran up to Dallas, "let's get you back to bed. Try to take deep breaths." He let him lean onto his shoulder and led him to Pony's room and to bed. The cough seemed to ease up a little then it started again.

"Shit, I can't breathe," Dally croaked, wiping off beads of sweat that started forming on his forehead. Dally fought for another breath, and then added barely audible, "I … I smoked," Johnny gasped and took a step back, "you what?" his eyes grew wide.

Dally frowned, "You left a pack on the counter when you went to the store, so I smoked two cigarettes. I didn't think it would be a big deal." He managed in between coughing. Johnny's face fell.

"Shit, we got to get you to the hospital. If your lung collapses and you are here I don't know _what_ might happen."

Johnny ran out of the room, leaving startled Dally in Pony's room. Frantically Johnny dialed Darry's work number. He grabbed the receiver as if it was his last life line, feeling sweat dripping down his spine. When Darry was on the phone Johnny didn't beat around the bush, "hey Dar, it's me. We got to get Dally to the hospital. He smoked some cigarettes and now he is doing much worse. He kind of can't breathe." Then he added bitterly, "it's all my fault, I left a pack of Kools lying around."

"I'll be right there," was all Darry said. Johnny went back into Pony's room where Dally was desperately gasping for air. Johnny felt awful, he mentally called himself every dirty name starting with stupid and ending with moron. He was close to hysterics. He felt it was his fault to begin with - if Dally didn't step in when the socs were beating Johnny the whole car crash wouldn't have happened and now he was stupid enough to leave a pack of cigarettes in the house. Johnny was sitting in Pony's chair biting his nails, trying his best not to start bawling. He kept looking at the clock wishing Darry would be there already. Every minute seemed like eternity.

The ride to the hospital was in silence. Darry was driving way over the speed limit so they reached the hospital in about fifteen minutes. They explained what had happened, and the nurse looked up Dally's records from his previous stay. "We got to get him on the respirator right away." The nurse informed them.

They wheeled Dallas away and hooked him up to the machine that was helping him breathe. He was pale and to be honest he was a little scared. He regretted his decision to smoke right then. He felt overwhelmed with everything that had happened – the car crash, him not being to remember anything and now this. He somehow felt like he let the guys down. They already put up a lot of money for his surgery and now they would have to pay more for his stay at the hospital.

The doctor walked in soon, interrupting Dally's thoughts. It was the same doctor that treated him the first time. "So Dallas," he started, "what is it that I hear, you are smoking?" He cleared his throat and then his face got very serious, "do you have a death wish Dallas?" Dally just stared at him saying nothing, a pained expression on his face.

The doctor exited and went to the waiting room to talk to Darry and Johnny. "He will be on the respirator for a few days. After that if everything goes well he'll be able to breathe on his own, even though it might hurt to breathe." Darry and Johnny nodded.

"And of course," the doctor said walking away, "absolutely no smoking."

"I think he learned his lesson," Darry said firmly.

"I sure hope so," the doctor said dryly, and walked away.

"Can we see him?" Johnny called out after the doctor. The doctor hesitated a moment, "go ahead."

Darry and Johnny walked quietly into the room, "hi Dal," Johnny started carefully, walking up closer to Dally's bed, "how are you feeling?"

"Like shit," Dallas looked and sounded miserable. He was avoiding Johnny's gaze, and was looking far into the distance instead.

"You'll be alright," Johnny tried to sound reassuring, "the doc said you can go home by the end of the week." Dally smiled weakly. It pained Johnny to see Dallas like this. His hero, his strong, tough and tuff Dally lying in a hospital bed pale and helpless. Johnny bit his bottom lip to prevent himself from starting to cry.

"What were you thinking smoking?" Darry supplied, and his voice was a little harsh. He looked Dallas right in the eyes.

"Yeah, it was stupid," Dally said in a scratchy voice.

"It better not happen again," Dally didn't say anything in response. He looked tired and pale. He closed his eyes.

"I think we should go, he is tired," Johnny sighed. Darry nodded, "ok Dal, feel better we'll be back tomorrow."

As the guys left, Dallas kept his eyes closed. In a few minutes he started to drift off into restless sleep. It wasn't even sleep, it was more like daydreaming. He wasn't exactly awake but he wasn't asleep either. Then there it was once again – the flashback, the old church blazing on fire, then Johnny's voice "help." Dally gasped and opened his eyes, what a hell, he thought. He sat up in bed breathing heavily, hurting all the more.

B y the end of the week Dally was discharged from the hospital with a strict requirement that he does not smoke. He still didn't remember anything, and it was killing him. He had flashbacks daily, especially before going to sleep. Sometimes he'd see himself behind bars. Other times on the horse. But he kept seeing an old church and it was on fire. He figured about the horse because Johnny had told him that he jockeyed and behind bars because Johnny had told him that he got locked up quite a bit, but no one ever said anything about church on fire.

Finally he was fed up, and decided to ask. They were watching TV when Dally looked up at Johnny, - "hey have I been in a fire or something?" Johnny paled, "why do you ask?"

"I just keep seeing a flashback of some old church and it's on fire. You are there too." Johnny considered how much he wanted or needed to tell Dally.

"Well it's a long story, but yeah you, me and Pony, we escaped a fire." Johnny stumbled over his words a little.

"C'mon tell me the whole truth, what happened?" Dally crossed his arms. Johnny cleared his throat, "I don't know if you oughtta hear it."

"Oh c'mon just tell me," Dallas sounded annoyed.

"Ok, fine," Johnny cracked under pressure. So he told Dally the whole story how he killed a soc and how they hid in the church and how the church was on fire.

"Wow," Dallas gave it a whistle.

"Do you remember any of it?" Johnny asked a little hope in his voce.

"No," Dally shook his head. Johnny hung his head in defeat, "You'll remember, the doc said it will happen," and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than Dally.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all had a great 4th of July, here is the next chapter, enjoy:)**

A few weeks passed by, Dallas was doing much better. He still couldn't remember but his lungs recovered fully, it wasn't painful to breathe anymore and he moved around without anyone's help. It bothered him a lot that he couldn't remember. He was starting to question whether he would remember at all. He felt stupid. Whenever someone was talking about things he couldn't participate because he didn't know what a hell they were talking about.

On Monday Darry and Soda left for work. Steve was driving them so Darry's truck was in the driveway. Pony was running late for school.

"C'mon I'll drive you," Dally started getting up from the couch.

"Oh, you don't have to." Pony rushed to assure him, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, but Pony realized Dally was going to be offended if he didn't let him drive him to school. "Ok," Pony agreed then, looking up at Dallas and starting to walk towards the door.

Dally got into the driver seat, and Pony into passenger seat. Dally put his hands on the steering wheel. He looked confused. Pony was looking at him, worry in his look. Dally looked at the gas pedal. He looked like he didn't know what it was for.

"What's wrong Dal?" Pony managed, puzzled.

"I don't fucking remember how to do this," Dally mumbled. With that he stormed out of the car and started running away. "Wait Dal, where you going?" Pony called after him, opening the car door. But Dally just yelled, "Leave me the fuck alone." Pony considered running after him, but figured it was no use. He sighed heavily and went back into the house and told Johnny, who was there, what had happened. Johnny sighed, "I was afraid something like that would happen. You go to school, I'll wait for him, "Johnny sighed again, "Darry will be mad if you skip school."

"Yeah, alright, I'll be home at three." So Pony left for school with a heavy heart, and Johnny stayed home waiting for Dally.

Dally was running, his blood pumping in his veins. His thoughts were racing - him on a horse, behind bars, and in the church fire. He considered what Johnny had told him about the church fire. He survived that, but he wasn't sure if he would survive this - he fucking didn't remember how to drive. The doc said this would pass, and his memory would be restored but what if it doesn't, what then, how is he going to live, how is he going to survive? He felt like a pathetic, helpless child relying on others to do everything for him, and he couldn't take it anymore. He kept running without any sense of direction, it's not like he recognized the streets, he couldn't remember anything.

By three in the afternoon Pony got home, Johnny was sitting on the couch, his head in his hands. He jumped up when the door slammed. Pony walked in "Oh," Johnny sat back down, "I was hoping it's Dallas." He said reluctantly.

"So I take it he is not aback." Pony swallowed hard.

"No, maybe he doesn't remember how to get back. We oughtta go look for him," Johnny said firmly.

"Yeah, ok," Pony nodded. He put his backpack aside – "Let's go." Johnny grabbed his jean jacket, and the two started walking.

Johnny and Pony first of all checked at the lot, and Dally wasn't there. Then they went down the streets in their neighborhood searching every corner, looking on the benches in the park and in the alleys. He was nowhere to be found. By seven they've searched their entire neighborhood and even checked shadier areas downtown. There was no sign of Dallas. They stopped people on the street asking if anyone seen Dallas, they went into the liquor store and asked the owner if Dally showed up thinking that he might of wanted a drink after what had happened, they went to Buck's, but Buck said he hadn't seen Dallas. Finally it was obvious – "he must be on the socs' turf," Jonny said matter of factly, paling a little.

"Yeah," Pony nodded, wide eyed "I hope nothing bad happens to him," He added with a frown.

Dallas was walking when he noticed a blue Mustang trailing him. It looked vaguely familiar. All of the sudden it flashed in front of his eyes - a blue Mustang, him driving a T-bird then crash, noise of broken glass. In the meantime the socs got out of the car. "What are you doing on our territory, hadn't you have enough?"

"What?" Dally asked confused. They surrounded him quickly, there were five of them. They started beating him, and he struggled as much as he could. All of the sudden it got clear. In that very instance as the soc's fist connected with Dally's face he remembered everything. He remembered who he was and who socs were. He remembered the car crash, the church on fire, everything. He fought the five. He forgot how to drive, but apparently he did not forget how to fight, and after a while the socs left him alone. His nose was bleeding and his ribs were hurting, but he was grinning ear to ear. He remembered. He wasn't going to be like a helpless child for the rest of his life.

He started walking, and nearly bumped into Pony and Johnny. Seeing his face Johnny gasped, "Did you run into socs? What happened? Are you ok?"

"I've been attacked by socs, I am so glad," Dally smiled

"Wait, what? You got attacked by some socs and you are saying you are glad?" Pony and Johnny y exchanged worried looks.

"Yeah, I remember. As soon as these bastards started hitting me it all came back." Johnny stepped back in disbelief. "So you mean you … uh remember who we are?"

"Yeah, Johnny I remember." He called me Johnny, Johnny thought, he had not called me that since his amnesia. They started walking back. "Oh, Dal I can't believe it, I'm so glad," He paused, "I mean not about you getting beat up." Dally only smiled wiping the blood off his lip.

"Wait till Darry and the rest of the guys find out." Johnny said happily.

Later that night they told Darry and the rest of the guys what had happened. They were relieved and glad. They stayed up late talking, and asking Dallas different things about him, making sure he remembered everything. Everyone stayed at the Curtis for the night and tomorrow was a new day.


End file.
